Increasing tension between France and the United Kingdom developed over the territory, and in 1760, the area was ceded to the British Empire after French forces surrendered during the French and Indian War. In 1763, various Native American nations rebelled against British rule and retook the fort as part of Pontiac's Rebellion. The Miami regained control of Kekionga, a rule that lasted for more than 30 years.[29]

In 1790, George Washington ordered the United States Army to secure Indiana Territory. Three battles were fought at Kekionga against Little Turtle and the Miami Confederacy. Miami warriors defeated U.S. forces in the first two battles. Anthony Wayne led a third expedition resulting in the destruction of Kekionga and the start of peace negotiations between Little Turtle and the U.S. After General Wayne refused to negotiate, the tribe advanced to Fallen Timbers where they were defeated on August 20, 1794. On October 22, 1794, U.S. forces captured the Wabash–Erie portage from the Miami Confederacy and built a new fort at the three rivers, Fort Wayne, in honor of the general.[30]

The military garrison was discontinued and a federal land office opened to sell land ceded by local Native Americans by the Treaty of St. Mary's in 1819.[31] Platted in 1823, the village became an important frontier outpost, and was incorporated as the Town of Fort Wayne in 1829, with a population of 300.[32] The Wabash and Erie Canal's opening eased travel to the Great Lakes and Mississippi River, exposing Fort Wayne to expanded economic opportunities. The population topped 2,000 when the town was incorporated as the City of Fort Wayne on February 22, 1840.[33] Fort Wayne's "Summit City" nickname dates from this period, referring to the city's position at the highest elevation along the canal's route.[16] As influential as the Wabash and Erie Canal was to the city's earliest development, it quickly became obsolete after briefly competing with the city's first railroad, the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway, completed in 1854.[34]

As the automobile's prevalence grew, Fort Wayne became a fixture on the Lincoln Highway, the country's first coast-to-coast highway.[39] Aviation arrived in 1919 with the opening of the city's first airport, Smith Field. The airport served as Fort Wayne's primary commercial airfield until Fort Wayne International Airport was transferred to the city in 1947 after use as a military base during World War II.[40] Fort Wayne was hit by the Great Depression beginning in 1929, with most factories cutting their workforce.[41] The stock market crash did not discourage plans to build the city's first skyscraper and Indiana's tallest building at the time, the Lincoln Bank Tower.[42] By 1935, the New Deal's WPA put over 7,000 residents back to work through local infrastructure improvements, including the construction of new parks, bridges, viaducts, and a $5.2 million sewage treatment facility.[43]

The post-World War II economic boom helped the city prosper once again. Between 1950 and 1955, more than 5,000 homes were built, many in large subdivisions in rural Allen County.[44] Suburban strip malls followed, with the city's first, Anthony Wayne Village, opening in 1947.[44] In 1950, Fort Wayne's first bypass (Coliseum Boulevard) opened on the north side of the city, followed by the city's first arena (War Memorial Coliseum), bringing new opportunities for suburban expansion.[45] The Coliseum was home to the NBA's Fort Wayne Pistons from 1952 to 1957. Fort Wayne's first enclosed shopping malls, Glenbrook Square (1966) and Southtown Mall (1969), along with the completion of I-69 in rural areas north and west of the city proper, further drove the exodus of retail from downtown through the 1960s.[46] According to Fort Wayne Home Builders Association estimates, more than 80 percent of new home construction occurred outside the city proper in the 1970s.[47]

A flooded Superior Street in 1982.

Like many cities in the Rust Belt, deindustrialization in the 1980s brought urban blight, increased crime, and a decrease in blue-collar manufacturing jobs.[48] Downtown and surrounding neighborhoods continued declining as residents and businesses sprawled further into rural Allen County.[49] A 1982 flood forced an evacuation of 9,000 residents, damaging 2,000 buildings, and costing $56.1 million.[50]

The 1990s marked a turnaround for the area, as officials focused on crime reduction, economic diversification, and downtown redevelopment. By 1999, Fort Wayne's crime rate decreased to levels not seen since 1974, and the city's economy recovered, with the unemployment rate hovering at 2.4 percent in 1998.[51] Clearing blighted buildings downtown resulted in new public greenspaces, including a plaza at One Summit Square (1991), Courthouse Green (1999), and Headwaters Park (1999). Headwaters has since become the premier community gathering space and centerpiece in the city's $50 million flood control project.[51][52] Fort Wayne celebrated its bicentennial in 1994.[51]

Fort Wayne's urban tree canopy is 29 percent, double the state average of 14.5 percent[60] and above the national average of 27.1 percent.[61] The canopy is decreasing, notably from development and the emerald ash borer infestation.[60] Fort Wayne has been designated a Tree City USA since 1990.[62]

Historically, Fort Wayne has been divided into four unofficial quadrants: northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest. Calhoun Street divides the southwest and southeast, while the St. Joseph River divides the northwest and northeast quadrants. The Maumee River separates the northeast and southeast, while portions of the St. Marys River and Chicago, Fort Wayne and Eastern Railroad separate the northwest and southwest quadrants.[63]

Fort Wayne lies in the humid continental climate zone (Köppen climate classification: Dfa), experiencing four distinct seasons. Typically, summers are hot and humid and winters are generally cold with moderate snowfall. The average annual precipitation is 37.9 in (960 mm), recorded at Fort Wayne International Airport. During the winter season, snowfall accumulation averages 32.9 in (84 cm) per year. Lake-effect snow is not uncommon to the region, but usually appears in the form of light snow flurries.

The National Weather Service reports the highest recorded temperature in the city at 106 °F (41 °C), most recently on June 28, 2012, and the lowest recorded temperature at −24 °F (−31 °C) on January 12, 1918.[71] The wettest month on record was July 1986, with 11 in (280 mm) of precipitation. The greatest 24-hour rainfall was 4.93 in (125 mm) on August 1, 1926. The snowiest month on record was January 2014, with 30 in (76 cm) of snowfall.[72] The greatest 24-hour snowfall was 13.6 in (35 cm) on March 10, 1964.[73]

Severe weather is not uncommon, particularly in the spring and summer months; the city experiences an average of 39 thunderstorm days and about 10 severe weather days annually.[74] An EF2 tornado struck northern Fort Wayne on May 26, 2001, injuring three and causing damage along the Coliseum Boulevard corridor and a subdivision.[75] Fort Wayne experienced 91 mph (146 km/h) wind gusts in the June 2012 North American derecho, knocking out power to 78,000, uprooting approximately 500 trees,[76] and costing $2.5 million.[77]

There were 101,585 households of which 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.3% were married couples living together, 14.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 38.0% were non-families. 31.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.09.

The median age in the city was 34.5 years. 26.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.5% were from 25 to 44; 24.9% were from 45 to 64; and 12% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.4% male and 51.6% female.

Fort Wayne has the highest Burmese American population in the U.S., estimated at 6,000.[87] Burmese refugee settlement and "secondary migrants" doubled the city's Asian population between 2000 and 2010.[88]

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne–South Bend.

Fort Wayne is sometimes referred to as the "City of Churches," an unofficial moniker dating to the late-19th century when the city was the regional hub of Catholic, Lutheran, and Episcopal faiths.[89] Today, there are 360 churches in the city.[19] 54 percent of Fort Wayne residents identify as religious, slightly above the national average of 49 percent. 16 percent are Catholic, 9 percent are Lutheran, 6.5 percent are Baptist, 5 percent are Methodist, and 0.14 percent are Jewish, with 16.5 percent adhering to other Christian faiths.[90] An increasing religious minority is found among the city's immigrant communities, including Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam.[91]

The General Electric complex is vacant (top), though the iconic sign remains lit (bottom).

Manufacturing is deeply rooted in Fort Wayne's economic history, dating to the earliest days of the city's growth as an important trade stop along the Wabash and Erie Canal. Railroads, introduced shortly after the canal's arrival, eased travel from Fort Wayne to other booming industrial centers along the Great Lakes, such as Chicago, Detroit, Toledo, and Cleveland. Throughout the early and mid-20th century, manufacturing dominated the city's economic landscape. From 1900 to 1930, Fort Wayne's industrial output expanded by 747 percent, with total production valued at $95 million in 1929, up from $11 million in 1899.[95] The total workforce also increased from 18,000 in 1900 to nearly 50,000 in 1930.[95]

The 1970s and 1980s were times of economic depression in Fort Wayne. As much of the city's manufacturing foundation eroded and the blue-collar workforce shrank, Fort Wayne joined several other cities reeling economically within the Rust Belt.[99] The biggest blow to the city's economy came September 27, 1982 when International Harvester announced it would close its Fort Wayne assembly plant, which had employed 10,600 at its peak. General Electric also downsized much of its more than 10,000-person workforce at this time; GE announced that operations at the Fort Wayne plant would end in 2015.[100] Amid other area plant closures and downsizing, coupled with the early 1980s recession, the city lost 30,000 jobs and reached a 12.1 percent unemployment rate.[101]General Motors' arrival in 1987 helped fill the void left by shuttered manufacturers and aided in the area's recovery, employing 3,000 at its Fort Wayne Assembly.[102]

Through the 1990s and into the 2000s, the city diversified its economy; manufacturing now employs 16.9 percent of Allen County's workforce.[17] Other sectors include distribution, transportation, and logistics (23.1 percent), health care (17.9 percent), professional and business services (12.1 percent), leisure and hospitality (11.1 percent), and financial services (6.3 percent).[17] The leisure and hospitality sector has especially grown, with 5.8 million visitors spending $545 million in 2013, a 4.3 percent increase over the previous year.[103] The city is a center for the defense industry, employing thousands at such companies as BAE Systems (1,150), ITT Exelis (888), Raytheon Systems (950), and the Fort Wayne Air National Guard Station (423).[18] In 2013, the county's workforce was 175,306 with an unemployment rate of 7.3 percent.[17][104]

Since its establishment in 2010, the downtown Cultural District has included Arts United Center, Auer Center for Arts and Culture, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, and Hall Community Arts Center.[112] Arts United Center houses the Fort Wayne Civic Theater, Fort Wayne Dance Collective, and Fort Wayne Youtheatre.[113] Auer Center for Arts and Culture houses Fort Wayne Ballet among other cultural organizations; a black box theater opened in 2014 with seating for 200.[114] Hall Community Arts Center anchors the east side of the district, housing Cinema Center which hosts independent film screenings.[115]

Though used mainly for exhibitions and conventions, the Grand Wayne Convention Center hosts dance and choir productions, such as the annual Foundation for Art and Music in Education (FAME) Northeast Festival. FAME annually showcases about 17,000 local arts and musical participants.[116] Since 1987, FAME has reached 3.2 million through multicultural and arts programs in 40 northern Indiana counties.[116] The open-air Foellinger Theatre in Franke Park seats 2,500, hosting seasonal acts and outdoor concerts during warmer months.[117] Located west of downtown, Arena Dinner Theatre is a nonprofit community arts corporation with a focus on live theater production, annually hosting seven full-length theatrical productions.[118]

The Fort Wayne Children's Zoo has been lauded as one of the nation's foremost zoos.[119] Covering 40 acres (16 ha) and containing 1,000 animals of 200 species, the zoo is separated into themed areas mimicking an African savanna, Australian Outback, Indonesian rain forest, and American Midwest farm. The zoo is the largest regional attraction, regularly drawing over 500,000 visitors annually.[120][121] The Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory gardens cover 24,500-square-foot (2,280 m2), displaying over 1,200 plants of 502 different species and 72 types of cacti.[122] Science Central, an interactive science center, contains permanent displays and temporary exhibits, drawing 130,000 visitors annually.[123]

Established in 1921, the Fort Wayne Museum of Art (FWMoA) is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, specializing in the collection and exhibition of American art.[124] The FWMoA annually receives 100,000 visitors.[125] The Auer Center for Arts and Culture was dedicated in 2011 to house local arts and cultural organizations, including Artlink. Other visual art centers include Castle Gallery, Northside Galleries, Orchard Gallery, and Wunderkammer Company.

The History Center, located in Fort Wayne's Old City Hall, manages a collection of more than 23,000 artifacts recalling the region's history.[126] The center is overseen by the Allen County–Fort Wayne Historical Society, which maintains the Richardville House, one of two National Historic Landmarks in the city. Historic Fort Wayne, a replica of the 1815 fortification, hosts scheduled tours and historical reenactments throughout the year.[127] Other cultural museums include the African/African American Historical Museum,[128] Fort Wayne Firefighters Museum,[129] Greater Fort Wayne Aviation Museum,[130] and Baer Field Heritage Air Park.

Fort4Fitness includes a certified half marathon, 4-mile (6.4 km) run/walk, and health fair. Over 9,000 participated in the 2011 half marathon.[137] In 2012, Fort4Fitness debuted its first spring cycle, Bike-the-Fort, which included three bicycling tours with over 1,000 participants.[138] HolidayFest begins with the Night of Lights on Thanksgiving eve, with the lighting of the PNC Santa and Reindeer, Wells Fargo Holiday Display, and Indiana Michigan Power Christmas Wreath, ending with a fireworks finale at Parkview Field.[139] Other events through the season include the Festival of Gingerbread at The History Center, the Festival of Trees at the Embassy Theatre, and Headwaters Park Ice Rink.[140]

The largest annual events in the city are Johnny Appleseed Festival and Three Rivers Festival. Johnny Appleseed Festival draws 300,000 visitors.[141] The festival is held at Johnny Appleseed Park where American folklore legend John Chapman is believed to be buried and features a plethora of apple themed cuisine, crafts, and historical demonstrations recalling 19th century American pioneering. Three Rivers Festival, a celebration of Fort Wayne, spans nine days each July, attracting 400,000 visitors.[142] Three Rivers features over 200 events, including a parade, midway, hot dog eating contest, bed race, raft race, arts fair, and fireworks spectacular.

Some notable events in sports history occurred in Fort Wayne. The first professional baseball game was played May 4, 1871 between the Fort Wayne Kekiongas and the Cleveland Forest Citys.[150] It was rained-out in the top of the ninth inning, with the Kekiongas ahead 2–0.[151] On June 2, 1883, Fort Wayne hosted the Quincy Professionals for one of the first lighted baseball games ever recorded.[150][152] Fort Wayne is also credited as the birthplace of the NBA, as Pistons' coach Carl Bennett brokered the merger of the BAA and the NBL in 1948 from his Alexander Street home.[150][153][154] On March 10, 1961, Wilt Chamberlain became the first player in the NBA to reach 3,000 points in a single season while competing at the War Memorial Coliseum.[150]

Fort Wayne was ranked as the "Best Place in the Country for Minor League Sports" in a 2007 issue of Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal,[155] dropping to second place in 2009.[156]

Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation maintains 86 public parks totaling 2,805 acres (11 km2).[19] Three public and 20 private golf courses are located in Allen County.[157] Franke Park is the most extensive city park, covering 339.24 acres (1.4 km2).[158] Franke is home to the Foellinger Theatre, Shoaff Lake, and the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. Other notable parks include Johnny Appleseed Park (home to a campground and John Chapman's grave) and McCulloch Park (home to Samuel Bigger's grave). Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory, Headwaters Park, Lawton Skatepark, and Historic Fort Wayne are located downtown. Hurshtown Reservoir, near Grabill, is the largest body of water in Allen County and is popular with watersports enthusiasts for sailing and fishing. Some 300 lakes are located within 50 miles (80 km) of the city.[159] Located downtown along the St. Marys River, Fort Wayne Outfitters offers canoe, kayak, stand-up paddle board, and pontoon boat rentals for recreation along the three rivers.[160]

Canoeing on the St. Marys River.

Starting in the 1970s, the city developed a system recreation trails along the riverbanks, known as the Rivergreenway, with the aim of beautifying the riverfronts and promoting active lifestyles for residents.[161] As of 2014, the Rivergreenway had expanded with additional trails to encompass 81 miles (130 km) throughout the city and county.[162] The Rivergreenway was designated a National Recreation Trail in 2009.[163] With the expansion of trails in recent years, cycling has become an emerging mode of transportation for residents. In 2009, the city's first bicycle lanes were instituted[164] with the installation of 250 bike parking places.[165] In 2012, the League of American Bicyclists rated the city at Bronze Level for "providing safe accommodation and facilities for bicyclists and encouraging residents to bike for transportation and recreation."[166]

The Fort Wayne Trail Network was used by 480,000 people in 2012,[167] an increase of 30 percent over the previous year.[168]

Fort Wayne's mayor is Tom Henry, a Democrat, who was elected in 2007. Henry succeeded Democrat Graham Richard who chose not to run for re-election after two terms as mayor. Henry was re-elected for a second term in 2011.[170] Karl Bandemer was appointed deputy mayor in 2013.[171] Sandra Kennedy was elected city clerk in 1983 and has since been re-elected for seven consecutive terms.[172] Fort Wayne City Council has nine elected members, one representative from each of the city's six council districts and three at-large members, serving four-year terms.[169] The members of the city council are: Tom Smith (1st District), Russ Jehl (2nd), Tom Didier (3rd), Mitch Harper (4th), Geoff Paddock (5th), Glynn Hines (6th), Marty Bender (at-large), Dr. John Crawford (at-large), and John Shoaff (at-large). Dr. Crawford was selected as city council president in 2015.[173]

Under the Unigov provision of Indiana Law, city-county consolidation would have been automatic when Fort Wayne's population exceeded 250,000 and became a first class city in Indiana.[174] Fort Wayne nearly met the state requirements for first class city designation on January 1, 2006 when 12.8 square miles (33 km2) of neighboring Aboite Township (and a small section of Wayne Township) including 25,094 people were annexed.[175] However, a 2004 legislative change raised the population requirements from 250,000 to 600,000, which ensured Indianapolis' status as the only first class city in Indiana.[176]

Municipal and state laws are enforced by the Fort Wayne Police Department, an organization of 460 officers.[177] In 2006, Fort Wayne's crime rate was 5104.1 per 100,000 people, slightly above the national average of 4479.3.[178] There were 18 murders, 404 robberies, and 2,128 burglaries in 2006.[178] Garry Hamilton was appointed to the position of police chief in 2014. Also in 2014, Rusty York was appointed to the position of director of public safety. York previously served as police chief from 2000–2014.[179] As of 2010, the Fort Wayne Fire Department includes 375 uniformed firefighters and 18 fire stations.[180] Eric Lahey was appointed fire chief in 2014.[181]

Composed of 14 branches, the Allen County Public Library is among the 20 largest public libraries in the U.S., and ranks 89th factoring in academic libraries, with 3.4 million volumes.[191] The library's foundation is also among the nation's largest, with $14 million in assets.[192] The entire library system underwent an $84.1 million overhaul from 2002 to 2007.[193] In 2009, over 7.4 million materials were borrowed by patrons with over 3 million visits made throughout the library system.[194]

In 2013, KPC Media Group launched a multimedia-focused, online-only community news site called INFortWayne.[195]

Michiana Business Publications Inc. has been publishing magazines serving multiple audiences since 1987. Business People magazine is published monthly, Fort Wayne Living is produced quarterly and numerous specialty magazines are published throughout the year.

Unlike most cities comparable to its size, Fort Wayne does not have an urban freeway system. In 1946, planners proposed a $27 million federally-funded freeway, crossing east-west and north-south through downtown.[201] Opponents successfully campaigned against the proposal, objecting to the demolition of nearly 1,500 homes at the time of the post-World War II housing shortage, while playing on fears that the project would force displaced minorities into white neighborhoods.[202][203] In 1947, Fort Wayne residents voted down the referendum that would have allowed for its construction, dubbed the Anthony Wayne Parkway.[204] Beginning in 1962, construction commenced for I-69 in suburban Fort Wayne.[205] The I-469 beltway around the southern and eastern fringes of Fort Wayne and New Haven was constructed between 1988 and 1995 as the largest public works project in Allen County history, at $207 million.[204]

Fort Wayne's mass transit system is managed by the Fort Wayne Public Transportation Corporation (Citilink), providing 12 bus routes through the cities of Fort Wayne and New Haven via downtown's Central Station.[210] CampusLink debuted in 2009 as a free shuttle service for students, faculty, and general public traveling between Ivy Tech's Coliseum and North campuses, IPFW and its student housing on the Waterfield Campus, and shopping and residential areas.[211] MedLink debuted in 2013 connecting Parkview Regional Medical Center with Parkview Health's Randallia campus.[212] Despite annual ridership of 2.2 million,[211] less than one percent of residents commute by public transportation.[200] Fort Wayne is served by two intercity bus providers: Greyhound Lines (Indianapolis—Toledo—Detroit) and Lakefront Lines (Chicago—Columbus—Akron).[213]

^Allen County - Fort Wayne Historical Society, accessed April 21, 2007. "Where does the term "Summit City" come from? When the Wabash and Erie canal was constructed, the highest point (summit) on the canal was at Fort Wayne."

^Salter Rodriguez, Rosa (2007-06-22). "'City of Churches' hard to prove: Census stats can't back up old moniker". The Journal Gazette.

^According to J. Dunn, Jr., the name "usually said to mean "blackberry patch," or "blackberry bush," this plant being considered an emblem of antiquity because it sprang up on the sites of old villages. This theory rests on the testimony of Barron, a longtime an old French trader on the Wabash. It is more probable that Kekioqa is a corruption or dialect form of Kiskakon, or Kikakon, which was the original name of the place." J. P. Dunn, INDIANA: A REDEMPTION FROM SLAVERY New York: HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY, 1888, 48, Note 1.

^Michael McCafferty, an Algonquian and Uto-Aztecan linguist professor at Indiana University, exhaustively examined the etymology of 'Kekionga' and dismissed Dunn's explanation and several others. See the chapter "Trails to Kekionga" in the relevantly titled 'Native American Place Names of Indiana' (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2008), esp. p. 76.

^Goodrich, De Witt C. and Charles Richard Tuttle (1875) An Illustrated History of the State of Indiana. (NP:R. S. Peale & Co., ND).

^Hoxie, Frederick E. (1996). Encyclopedia of North American Indians: Native American History, Culture, and Life from Paleo-Indians to the Present. Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 343. ISBN0-395-66921-9.